private Shifted: The Remake

[Key Gear 6,664]

Numbers waited until after Ice had finished speaking. While she was talking, he listened in silence. After a few moments, it became painfully apparent to him that he had very little in common with Ice Storm at all. Role-playing games? Skyrim? A different dimension on Earth? Not caring about your humanity? With each new revelation, he grew more and more wary.

 

Finally, Ice mentioned her abject poverty. While he had worked hard throughout his life and had not met with much success, he had never known poverty. Concerned friends and relatives had always been willing and able to keep him from that point no matter how relentlessly he pursued his ideas. Suddenly, he became aware of how limited his life experience has actually been. Devoted to his studies as a child and his work as an adult, he had never found the time to play any games. He never watched any movies. They had all seemed so pointless to him. He only read books. Lots of books.

 

As a human, books had been his obsession. He especially enjoyed old books, and his favorite type of old books were those that took place in a place called Camelot. In particular, he remembered enjoying a book called The Once and Future King. Reminiscing for a moment, his mind wandered across many tales of chivalry and valor. Making the right decisions, helping others, and fighting side-by-side for a common cause against some great evil. Behaving with civility and remaining upright in manner even in the most adverse and sordid environments.

 

Of course, that was how things were supposed to work. In reality, the warriors in these tales were often quite imperfect. Numbers winced as he recalled some of the failings of the knights. Laziness, ineptitude, lies, wretched failures in personal morality - for nearly every knight that Numbers could recall there was some great failure. Yet, he still admired them. Even in the midst of their failures, the best of them continuously reached towards the goal of attaining their noble ideals. To Numbers, that made them great.

 

To Numbers, to go out on a quest in search of the ultimate good and fall short was not a failure. To risk everything in the hope of making the world a better place was a self justifying mission. It was with that thought in mind that he had set out on his own quest in life as a human. He had pursued the dream of bringing transparency into the world of finance and trading. He had failed magnificently, but not before wasting years of his life and alienating most of the people that he had cared for. But, he had tried to do something great, and that made the failure worth enduring.

 

Intuitively, he was aware of how far-fetched and ridiculous the fantasy stories were. Knights running around in armor thrashing at each other and hacking each other into pieces. Dubious quest for relics of some alleged value to the kingdom. Fair damsels in distress. On the surface, it all seemed so pointless, but even in his darkest moments, Numbers had drawn strength from those stories. They were escapism, to be sure, but they were also adventures and lessons could certainly be drawn from the experiences of the characters in the book.

 

Numbers glanced over at Ice. He had a sudden realization. Perhaps her time spent gaming service similar purpose to his time spent reading. Escapism, yes, but also an experience - an adventure. While the media was different, perhaps experiences of gaming could be just as noble and worthwhile as those of reading.

 

What about you? Do you remember what you were?

“I was…” Numbers hesitated because he wasn't sure of exactly how to describe his past life. “I was a dreamer.”

 

With that, he went back into his own thoughts. At this point, they had already entered the town and he could see Aurora and a number of other ponies from their group up ahead. Thoughts of food, shelter, and sleep filled his head. He smiled as a thought occurred to him. This place, these events… It's like I really am in one of those fantasy stories. This Canterlot sounds suspiciously similar to Camelot. Of course, there don't seem to be any fair damsels in distress here though.

 

"... Question answered."

He chuckled to himself as he thought about just how far Serah, in particular, was from that particular stereotype. He glanced over his shoulder to see how she was doing. She looked uncharacteristically awkward. Numbers's face betrayed a quizzical expression. With an eyebrow raised, he looked forward again and shook his head. Everything was fairly quiet and uneventful, so he had no idea what had disturbed her.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Scootacool

[Legendary Emerald 622]

He chuckled to himself as he thought about just how far Serah, in particular, was from that particular stereotype. He glanced over his shoulder to see how she was doing. She looked uncharacteristically awkward. Numbers's face betrayed a quizzical expression. With an eyebrow raised, he looked forward again and shook his head. Everything was fairly quiet and uneventful, so he had no idea what had disturbed her.

 

"Shit." Serah mentally kicked herself.

 

"Her question. You answered it." Serah said, digging the hole deeper. She cleared her throat. "As for what I remember... not much."

 

"Thought I was well off at first; at least remembered my name, when no one else did. Didn't try to remember much else, so didn't realize what I'd forgotten until..." she trailed off, remembering the world Jack had sent her to. "Didn't have a job. Don't need memory to know that. Lived on my own. Traveled."

 

The image of the red cloaked figures popped into her head once again, followed by the demons they'd turned into.

 

"Don't need memories clouding vision. Focus on becoming human again. Questions will answer themselves." Serah said, changing the subject. "I think I see a town up ahead."

[Grace Braid 240]

Jack was standing in shock, complete and utter shock, as he stared at the spot that Serah had been. What...why...how in the hell did I do that?!. He heard, and yet at the same time, did not hear Aurora toss out accusations at him. He noticed absolutely nothing but the grass in front of him, and the specks of black on his eyes left over from the bright light his horn gave off.

 

Then...an extremely unlikely thing happened. Almost like time was being undone, Serah came back into existence in an extremely similar way to how she left it, just reversed. His jaw was dropping more and more as she materialized, without him even realizing it, until she fully materialized and closed his jaw back up, looking at Serah. Or should I say new Serah...?, he wondered, as he noticed that she was slightly different from before: shaken up, and with a monotone when she began to speak.

 

Most of what she said went right through Jack's head. All he managed to catch from what she said is that she believed Artsy was a danger to others until her power was controlled, or some shit like that. Well maybe if you guys didn't make her fly into a rage she wouldn't have her power leaking out all of the time, he thought in an irritated way, well aware that the same thing somewhat applied to him based on his recent outburst. After Serah was done speaking, Jack said nothing, wishing for there to be nothing more for him or anybody else to say about the situation so that he could finally go, since he just belatedly realized that he still had not left to comfort Artsy, and that Klopp had left long before him. Thus, he basically ignored what anybody else said to him, simply mumbling "I'll see you there, then..." to Daylight when he said something to Jack, before going in the direction of where Artsy went. First walking, and then quickly turning into a run so that he could get to her faster.

 

...Of course, being extremely nonathletic, by the time Jack had reached the lake that Artsy, Klopp, and Magenta was at, he was completely and utterly tired, out of breath and feeling way worse than he should have for what was a relatively short run. Panting excessively, he trotted over slowly to where the group was...

 

 

...But not before some light-brown pony rolled his way right into Klopp's side, knocking Klopp straight into the lake. All Jack could do was blink, laugh a little(before running out of breath again), and facehoof at how ridiculous the sight was. He finished walking over to the group and plopped himself right on the ground next to Artsy, saying inbetween pants "Sorry...that I took so long...I got caught up hitting that red pony with a blast of green binary code, her disappearing for a while, and then reappearing again a little while later."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

@, @, @,

 

Awaiting for an answer from Klopp, it seemed that the pony didn't even have time to open his mouth before the idiot from before came rolling out of nowhere and pushed him into the lake. The pony's fall was accompanied by a bit of a splash, which sprinkled water all over her fogged glasses. She remembered this guy knocking Serah about... and couldn't help but suddenly burst out into giggles at how out of place this sudden interruption was. Everything had been serious up to that point, she had gotten angry at the ice and fire pony... and then suddenly... weird rolling guy out of nowhere. As the tan unicorn cracked up, she had to admit that this world seemed ridiculously random with its sense of mood and timing.

 

She noticed that Jack had returned and started laughing with her a little inbetween his ridiculous out-of-shape pants. It made her realize how much she had ignored her own exhaustion from the day's events and her sadness... when she first got to this lake, she was also panting like a maniac. But somehow, his seemed sillier and more ridiculous, especially with the words he told her. Her laughs grew more raucous, rivaling the laughs of that crazy laughing pony who had an abomination of a symbol on his side. Everything just seemed so silly. All of these bad things that had occurred and then... this. It put her in stitches as she tried to respond coherently.

 

"What?! Are you... serious?! YOU TURNED HER INTO BINARY? WHAT THE HELL, MAN? How'd you do it? Oh... doesn't matter. She TOTALLY deserved it! Good... job! Wahahaha!" Tears began to come out of her eyes once more, but of a different nature than the previous. Her mental exhaustion was so much that everything had just become hilarious. It didn't even make sense anymore. But all the same, she rewarded Jack with a kiss on the not-lips and a giggle as she smashed her ass into the ground from hilarity. Ow!

 

Rubbing it sorely with a hoof, she spoke one more time to Jack. "My... hero! You-"

 

...Wait. Again. She always seemed to stop in the middle of her sentences, and she knew that! But something about that odd new pony.. his voice... she realized... it sounded ridiculously familiar. The mare had recalled it coming out of the speaker of a phone, and a computer. And his mane and overall coloring were similar to hers. And similar to the man she once knew. What was his name again? Gah! She had forgotten everyone's name! Blast these ponies.

 

The giggles died down and she froze, realizing this would be the first time they met. She couldn't believe it! Was it really him? He couldn't see her like this. She didn't look all that bad, she had to admit. But... dear lord. Still, her curiosity got the better of her.

 

"You... you... is it really you? You're... taller than I expected," And stupider, she added in her mind, not quite fully removed from the humor.

[Somebody 570]

"Wait, she's back? How di-"

 

Before Klopp could finish his sentence he was pulled away with the force of a dozen freight trains, his arm nearly popping right out of his shoulder. Magenta dragged Klopp along the grass a few feet before he managed to get his hooves in order, having a hard time keeping an equal pace as he was still terrible with moving as a pony.

 

"Ouch! You could have been... a bit less abrupt couldn't you?"

 

"There's no time!" Magenta screamed as she ran. "Please hurry! I don't want us to end up like Serah!!" Practically dragging a clumsy Klopp with her, they soon reached Artsy...

 

"So... where is Jack?"

 

"IT'S HORRIBLE!!!" Magenta yelled, running up to Artsy and hugging her tightly. "You can't possibly imagine!" she screamed hysterically. "He--he used his magic and--and made his horn flash and green stuff went everywhere and--and... and he sent Serah into oblivion!!" She began to sob. Again. Possibly for the fifth time that day. "And then he brought her back, but she was a zombiepony!!" Magenta screamed, tilting her head to the sky and proclaiming her horrifying vision to the very clouds above. However, her declaration was quickly cut short by a random rolling pony...

 

Despite how much he was dizzy from it before, Nicolas lay down in the grass and began to tumble and whirl as he rolled across the ground toward them. "Look out, guys!" Nicolas shouted out loud, trying to be clumsy in appearance but thoughtful at the same time. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through his side once again as he seemed to ram into something. A loud splash could be heard, and upon scrambling back onto his hooves, Nicolas could see that he had accidentally rolled right into the silly looking pegasus, knocking him into the lake.

 

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry about that! Are you all right!? Do you need help?" He wasn't quite sure if he'd be very helpful, as he hadn't tried swimming as a pony yet, but it felt right to offer. Looking back and forth between the tan and magenta ponies, his cheeks grew flush with embarrassment, shame and guilt.

 

"Nooo, Klooopp!" Magenta yelled as she heroically galloped straight off the embankment and fell into the water, all four hooves still running. Though she soon realized she had not yet learned to swim in this pony body of hers. Desperately and frantically making a sort of dog paddle motion, she managed to keep her head above water, sputtering and coughing in her struggle to save Klopp--and herself.

 

Using every last ounce of energy she had, Magenta flailed and swung her limbs until she reached Klopp. She closed her eyes and focused one final burst of energy into her horn and aimed it at her newfound special somepony. Zecora had taught her a simple telekinetic spell, and Magenta was sure she remembered it perfectly. She just hoped she had enough power left in her to propel him to shore...

Edited September 2, 2012 by Questio

[Klopp 2,051]

@, @,

 

Klopp was just about to respond to Artsy, but had just barely been given enough time to open his mouth when he was suddenly smacked be some large heavy object, with enough force to thrust his entire pony body into the nearby lake. He entered the lake with a mighty splash and attempted to swim, but kicking his hooves about only one effect; pushing him farther away from the shorline.

 

He couldn't keep his head above water, and was beginning to simply sink into the water, but as he did he noticed his newfound girlfriend... ladyponyfriend, still wearing his fedora, jump into the lake after him, most likely in an attempt to save Klopp from drowning in the waters of the lake.

 

@,

 

"MAGEBLBLAH! Don'blhalbhlabb I'll be fine! BLlabbalhback to the shore!"

 

Not a sentence spoken went uninterrupted by Klopp's head submerging beneath the water before he could complete it, and it was clear Magenta had in mind to save him, no matter what the cost. Klopp then noticed her horn... it began glowing, like the others whenever they were to use magic. He then felt himself... moving upward...somehow floating out of the water. He wasn't sure what to do, but just sitting there... floating in the air, felt unnaturally strange, so he began trying to move himself forward by flailing his hooves about. This didn't help, and he was moving far too slowely.

 

Klopp looked down at Magenta, and he realized if she kept this up, she would become tired like he had seen other ponies when they used their magic. That would mean she could drown if she were to continue attempting to save Klopp! He would most certainly not allow that. "Well damn! I need to help her before she overdoes it, but what can I do while just flying here-"

 

He had it! he looked back, took a glance at his new feathery appendages, and figured they weren't just there for show. They must be strong enough to give him the ability to fly! Klopp started moving his wings slowely... getting used to the movement,,, but he had no time for practice! He had to act now!

 

"Alright, here we go!"

 

The stallion flapped his wings faster. Much faster. In fact, way too fast for his own good as he broke free of the magical bonds from Magenta's magic, and then quickly accelerated and rose high enough to almost touch the clouds.

 

"AAahgooooddamniiiiiit!"

 

He stopped flapping, folded his wings closed, and began back-flipping uncontrollably at a rate of about one roation per second. He managed to look down, and could see Magenta floating down there, too far away from the shore to put him at ease. He quickly came up with a plan, which he knew was extremely stupid, but he had no other choice but to go through with it.

 

Klopp spread his wings to their full span in order to stabalize his fall, and took a pose with is front hooves outstretched in front of him ready for a dive, and in no time at all Klopp broke the surface of the water. He was hoping the lake was shallow enough to reach the bottom, and fortunately for Klopp it was... a bit too shallow, as he smacked his face lightly onto the bed of the lake. Quickly regaining his composure, Klopp flipped around, and spotted a pink blob that was sure to be Magenta. He kicked off the floor of the lake, pushing himself in the direction of Magenta, and used his wing to thrust himself towards her, flapping them as hard as he could manage underwater, as they were his most effective form of underwater locomotion that he knew of.

 

He spread his arms out, and broke the surface underneath Magenta, and gripped tightly as to make sure he would not let go of her, and the two lept out of the lake like dolphins... except for the fact that Klopp continued to flap and the two made their way into the sky. Klopp realized how bad an idea this was of his, as he had not idea how to stop, turn, slow down, or god forbid, land safely.

 

He just decided to go with the most simple approach, spread his wings outward, and began to glide as he carry his lovely passenger, taking special care to avoid harming her in any way. Klopp guided himself away from the lake, over the ponies that were standing on the bank, but soon this whole flying thing was getting rather tiring on his wings, especially due to the fact he was carrying another, and he needed to land, fast.

 

"Hold on, Magenta! This landing isn't going to be pretty!"

 

He tilted his wings a tad to turn himself around, and tilted downwards a bit to get him to the ground faster. The pair in the air picked up a lot of speed, and as they neared the ground Klopp pulled upwards to prevent smacking directly into the surface, and was heading directly for the ponies on the ground. The last thing Klopp wanted was for Magenta to be hurt, so he grabbed onto her tightly, and tilted so when they hit the groud, Klopp would take the full force of the impact, and wrapped his Wings around magenta to blanket her from any harm.

 

The two hit the ground hard, and Klopp kept with his firm grip as the two rolled along, and before losing too much speed smacked directly into the brown pony near Artsy, who Klopp hadn't noticed before. The force was just enough to send him on a splash-course into the lake, much like Klopp before.

 

Klopp lay there on his back, Magenta still in his arms on top of him. Her safety still top priority, he quickly spoke in the least sputtery way he could manage to her.

 

"A-a-are y-y-you o-okay M-M-M-M-Magenta?

Edited September 2, 2012 by Misso Klopp

[Dave247 568]

"Um....on second thought....okay I'll come with you," Starry said, smiling "I don't know what happened, but I'll help you out in return for the mishap I caused,"

"Well that's good then" Day said cheerfully. "It's not your fault that you have trouble flying though, you've never flown before so you can't expect yourself to just suddenly know." He said to Starry reassuringly. "Anyway, come on, follow me" Day said and gestured for Starry to follow before walking off back in the direction of where Jack was.

 

On the way back, Day noticed a number of ponies running off in a different direction and could swear he heard Aurora's voice somewhere in the distance calling back out to the group. He couldn't hear what she said though as she was already too far away.

 

"It's obvious the way she acted around us that she is a local." He thought "Everything must of gotten too much for her and she decided to run. I doubt it was just in any old direction this time though, she isn't that silly to make that same mistake twice. Aurora's either gone back to her house or some sort of place of comfort, and her calling out was probably inviting others to follow so... I'm going with house."

 

Day then saw Jack walking off in the direction he saw Klopp and his female companion go earlier. "Hmm..." He thought. "Maybe they went to find Artsy? They still could of had a little "fun" along the way though..." He ran to catch up to Jack with Starry following behind and ran with him until they reached a lake. As they got closer, he could see that Klopp and his companion were indeed there as well as Artsy.

 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, another pony came rolling down the hill and rolled right into Klopp, knocking him into the lake. "I'm sure I remember seeing that pony before..." Day thought. "As yes, he was the one that rolled into that fiery pony." He then saw Klopp's female companion jump into the lake to save him. Day couldn't help laughing at how funny all that had happened was, until he stopped when he realized that it looked like they both couldn't swim.

 

Worried now, he walked over to the lake thinking about what he could do to help. He wasn't going to risk jumping himself though and doubted that was much else that he could do. Luckily, it looked like he didn't need to help as Klopp shot out of the late with a into the sky... only to dive back into it seconds later. "Well, that was useful" He thought "At least he can fly though maybe he'll do better the second time...".

 

Day could see something rising up from under the water under the female unicorn. Klopp then burst out the he lake a second time but this time grabbed his companion and flew up into the sky. He looked up, and saw them both slowly glide to the ground, right into the pony that rolled into Klopp and knocked him into the lake. "Oh great. Now who's going to help him? Klopp could fly again but he's too busy with that unicorn..." Day thought as he looked over to Klopp lying on the ground with the unicorn.

 

"Wait!" Day suddenly realized something. "Klopp isn't the only one here with wings..."

@

"Starry!" Day urgently called out to her. "Do you think you could get that other pony out of the lake? He looked rather big though so I don't know if you'll be able to manage on your own though..." He said worryingly.

[Aureity 3,055]

Aurora frowned in consternation as Alex crashed in an unceremonious pile of feathers and hooves on the dusty ground below, wondering just how clumsy the pony was. That's gotta be a new record, I've never heard of a pegasus who managed to collide with air. But he seemed well enough as he struggled to his hooves that Aurora managed to banish any thoughts of worry from her mind. Ehh...maybe he's just not used to flying. It makes sense, seeing as the others could barely put one hoof in front of the other.

 

Alex leapt to his feet, more than slightly embarrased, and dusted himself off.

 

"Uhh... Now that I think about it, I never actually got your name."

 

"My name?" Aurora asked, surprised. "Oh! Umm..." Should I tell them? They could be manaics just like the purple or tan one for all I know...oh well. Her eyes flickered between the three ponies, wondering how to address them all at once, before compromising and settling on a spot in the middle. "I'm Aurora Flare. Nice to meet all of you!" She cast a curious glance at the green and silver ponies, who still hadn't introduced themselves yet.

 

"Yeah, when you had run off on your own, well... As Alex said, we were worried about you. So you live around here, huh? I can certainly see why, it's nice and calm here." He looked around the village a bit more, admiring it's charm, before recalling that he was going to introduce himself. "Oh right, I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Electrobolt. And as Alex had said, um... Hopefully we can get off on the right note this time..."

 

"Thanks, Electrobolt," Aurora said happily, pleased that at least the green pony had decided to speak up. The silence of the silver pony was starting to unnerve her - and the bow slung over the pony's back did nothing to ease her worries. "I've only been here myself a few years though, but they're really nice to newcomers, so I don't think any of you will have much trouble fitting in. They're really easy to talk to," she added assuringly, remembering his social awkwardness.

 

"We were also wondering if it would be alright if we stayed with you for the night. I know that we didn't exactly leave you with a good impression." Alex continued, hoping she would help them.

 

They want to stay? Aurora thought, surprised by this turn of events. Ahh...thank Celestia that I went shopping just yesterday. That's going to be lunch, dinner, and next morning's breakfast for four ponies...She did a quick calculation, and was relieved to find that her budget could handle it. Realizing that she hadn't said anything yet and that all three ponies were looking expectantly at her, she announced, "Course you all can stay! It'll be great having guests over."

 

"Umm..." she added. "Do you want to go right now? Or do you want to explore the town for a bit? I, uh, can guide you three around, if you want."

[Alex Night 870]

As Alex looked on for an answer from the white unicorn, he looked to his left and heard Electrobolt speak up. "It's good to know that we are on the same page." Alex thought. Alex looked to his right and saw Silver being very quiet. "Poor Silver. I'd have a lot on my mind too if I found myself somewhere 1000 years into the future." Alex mused to himself.

 

"My name?" Aurora asked, surprised. Her eyes flickered between the three ponies, wondering how to address them all at once, before compromising and settling on a spot in the middle. "I'm Aurora Flare. Nice to meet all of you!"

His thoughts were interrupted when the white unicorn introduced herself as Aurora Flare. Relieved that now the two of them were properly introduced, Alex responded back. "It's nice to meet you too, Aurora" Said Alex with the same smile on his face. "Aurora Flare... That's a nice name." Alex thought.

 

"I've only been here myself a few years though, but they're really nice to newcomers, so I don't think any of you will have much trouble fitting in. They're really easy to talk to,"

"That's great. That will really make things easier for us." Alex told Aurora. Alex was hoping that this would really cause a great break for the three of them after all of the craziness that was going on at the forest. "Now that I think about it, I wonder if the others back at the forest are alright, especially after seeing the red unicorn get digitized. I did just take off without looking back to see if they were following." Alex thought.

 

Realizing that she hadn't said anything yet and that all three ponies were looking expectantly at her, she announced, "Course you all can stay! It'll be great having guests over." "Umm..." she added. "Do you want to go right now? Or do you want to explore the town for a bit? I, uh, can guide you three around, if you want."

 

When Alex heard her answer, he was excited that she would be able to help. Her last question got him thinking at first. "I know that we have to get settled in so we can find answers, but this is a great chance to explore the town and relax for a bit." Alex thought. He looked towards Aurora to answer her question. "I would love to explore the town. It would be a great break from everything and honestly, looking at the town from the sky got me way too curious." Alex said to Aurora. Alex looked back to Silver and Electrobolt. "What do you guys think?" Alex asked his two companions.

[Flow 1,653]

"Well that's good then" Day said cheerfully. "It's not your fault that you have trouble flying though, you've never flown before so you can't expect yourself to just suddenly know." He said to Starry reassuringly. "Anyway, come on, follow me" Day said and gestured for Starry to follow before walking off back in the direction of where Jack was.

 

"Oh....um...okay!" Starry answered, following him afterwards. While she trotted behind, the two stopped at the site of the other ponies following Aurora, "Eh? Where are they going? Err...Maybe they're going into...some town? Hmm...If so, then I would like to see one right now, however I can't just leave him...after seeing his face, also, I agreed to help him out, and I don't even know much about this..world, yes I still wonder....How did I end up here?"

 

As they continued going around, they saw Jack trotting off to someplace, then they went after him, where they found a lake, and that is when they found Artsy, along with the fedora pegasus and the magenta unicorn. "So they're here, and I thought I'd never see them again, oh and there's Artsy, now that I think of her, she really looks beautiful, speaking of which, I still don't know what my face looks like, I guess I could look at the reflection on the water, it looks so clear."

 

And just before she took a peek at the water, a pony unexpectedly came rolling down the hill, where he bumped into fedora pony and sent him flying into the water. She saw Day laughing at what seemed like a comedic act, but Starry wasn't laughing, it wasn't because she didn't find it funny, but because fedora pony made a big splash and got her wet a bit, "Sigh, very funny," she muttered. Starry hated getting splashed at, and it irritated her so much that she was about to yell at the pony who sent fedora pegasai into the water, but stopped when she saw him struggling to swim.

 

"Huh? He can't swim? That's not good! What am I supposed to do? I...I.." While she stood there, the magenta pony came forward and jumped into the water "Ah! It's Magenta pony, I guess she'll try to rescue him?" She watched as she tries to rescue him via telekinetic powers, and when she did, the fedora pony tried to flap his wings "What is he doing? Is he trying to break free of her magic?" She continued watching as he managed to break free, then she watched him soar into the sky and dive into the lake, Starry, thinking twice got away from the coast quickly to not get wet again,

 

But after looking at the lake again, she saw no sign of Fedora pony, "What the? Where did he go?..." Moments later, She saw Magenta pony fly out of the water with Fedora pony "Wow.... he was able to do that? Even when his wings are wet? Incredible!...."

 

When they landed, they happened to hit the same pony that knocked him into the water, and heflew into the water, "Eh? Is this...revenge?" Starry thought.

 

Then she heard Daylight calling out to her "Starry! Do you think you could get that other pony out of the lake? He looked rather big though so I don't know if you'll be able to manage on your own though..." She responded "Huh? Do I have too? Um.... I can't! He appears too heavy for me!" She nearly panicked at the situation "Great! What am I supposed to do now? Then she remembered Daylight's begging face "Gaaah! I can't get that face off my mind!" Then she decided to try getting him out of the lake, "Sigh....Okay....Um....I'll try then." she said with reluctance, "...H-here...g-goes.."

 

She jumped and took off from the ground, she flew slowly above the lake and circled around looking for him, "Not good, where could he be?"

Edited September 4, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Ice Storm 1,020]

@,

 

Ice was caught a bit off guard by the reply that she had gotten from numbers when she had asked him what he was like, but then she remembered that, at least from what she had seen to him, he had always been very too the point. Didn't mean that she was any less confused though. He told her that he was a dreamer. What did that mean? In the human world there were so many dreamers that the statement could have literally meant anything. Was he trying to be a writer? Was he trying to save the world? Bring about great change? Write the worlds most famous symphony? "Well at the very least, what ever your dreams are, I hope they get accomplished. It sounds like you had it much better than I did at least. Of course, that's not really saying much. A new born child had it better off than I did," she told him

 

@@Aureity,

 

A bit off in the distance as they started to enter Ponyville a bit deeper Ice saw Aurora, Alex, Silver, and a few others that she didn't recognize around her and she waved to her. "Aurora!!" she said running over to her, "Wait for us!!" She yelled in a very happy to be here tone. She had to admit, everything looked very similar to how it did in the show, but considering it was a show on their world, there were probably differences that she wouldn't be aware of. She managed to just catch up just in time to hear Aurora mentioning something about giving a tour of Ponyville. "Oh! I would love that! I'd love to see how different it is from the old perspective we had where we came from," she said as she remembered about the library. "Oh! the library! Does Ponyville still have a Library? it might have some of the answers we're looking for. As unlikely as it may be, any information is better than none!" she announced in superbly excited after Alex stated that he too would love to explore the town.

 

It was going to be a very interesting experience for her. Regardless of whether everything was the same or not it was just unreal. If it was all the same, the first thing she'd have to ask is how did the producers know of all this, and if not, how far off were they? So far they had the three types of ponies and the princesses accurate, which was already a lot more than she would have guessed in the first place. Even the layout of the village looked right for the most part. I wonder if the mane six still exist... I don't see Rarity's boutique from the show... it could be a coincidence but too early to tell. I'm sure as hell not going to ask about it though. If I ask about random ponies that don't exist everypony is going to think that we're even more nuts than they already do. That brings up the question though, if they don't exist, then who is wielding the elements? she thought to herself. It might explain a few of the occurrences that have occurred, and might explain why they were drawn here. It was too soon to tell though.

[Nico 790]

@, @, @, @

 

Nicolas noticed a pony with a mustache laughing behind him, and couldn't help but think to himself that the mustache looked rather ridiculous on a pony. Muttering some kind of mumbo jumbo about binary, the tan pony, who was already laughing at him, burst into even more laughter. After just a moment, though, it seemed as though the cupid of seriousness shot her in the heart with an arrow of super seriousity, as her tone quickly changed and she spoke to him, ""You... you... is it really you? You're... taller than I expected,"

 

He couldn't quite put his finger, or hoof, or whatever on where he knew her from, but he knew for sure that he recognized her voice. Then, taking a closer look at her, he remembered the face of someone he knew, yet had never met in person. If she reminded him so much of her, does that mean it really is her? "I'm not sure if I'm who you think I am, but you sound very familiar. Do I-" He cut himself short as the white pegasus, now accompanied in the water by the magenta looking pony, suddenly started glowing and floated out of the lake. A moment later, he spread his wings and soared off into the sky, before plunging back down into the water, creating a mighty splash which soaked Nicolas' mane. Just seconds later, he was out of the water again, carrying the unicorn with him high into the sky, and as last time, he began plummeting back down at high speed.

 

Nicolas couldn't quite make out what happened in detail, but he knew that the pegasus had just crashed into him and sent him flying into the lake. Kicking his feet wildly in the water, Nicolas simply flailed around for a moment. After gathering his bearings, however, he began to kick his feet in an orderly fashion, much like he does to trot after teaching himself, and swam with surprising grace back to the shore, soaking wet, his mane draped heavily with water over one half of his face.

 

"Okay, okay. I said I was sorry. You didn't have to go through an elaborate ruse together to get back at me, you know!" Nicolas stated, shaking the water off of his coat. Turning back to the tan pony, he attempted to resume his sentence from before. "Sorry about that. Apparently knocking each other in the lake is pretty common around here. Anyway, do I know you from somewhere, perhaps? You seem familiar, but I'm sure I don't know any... ponies."

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

@,

 

She watched the events before her with bemusement, responding numbly to Magenta's sudden hug and shuddering. Her eyebrow was raised at the dramatic tone and mention of... "zombieponies." Was that really what happened? Probably not. It was hard to believe Magenta in her inane hysteria.

 

@,

 

It only got more ridiculous, really. Klopp proved that he was stupider than the rolling pony by doing some weird flying maneuvers and swimming around ludicrously. There was something about the flamboyant pony using magic on him along the way, and then ending with the man she thought she recognized being pushed into the water with another massive splash, sprinkling more water upon her coat and mane. At this point, her glasses were so thoroughly wet that she could barely see through them. She was standing rather close to the rolling pony... any further and Klopp could've pushed her away. Slowly, the tan unicorn edged away from him, ignoring the strange urge she had to poke his exposed ivory belly as he laid on his back.

 

Instead, she turned her attention upon the possible recognized pony instead. This guy was... surprisingly graceful in the water. Much more so than his silly rolling would imply. Perhaps he was just so aquatic that he was stupid on land. She wasn't quite sure. He proved his ungraceliness (was that even a word? Who cared, thought Artsy) once more by shaking off his coat and sprinkling her with more water. The unicorn groaned slightly in half-aggitation at being a little wet and half-amusement. This... this seemed like it would be a common theme. Her group was proving to be a rater inept pack of misfits so far. It was odd, but for once, she was the only sane one here.

 

@@Dave247, @,

 

...Other than the ones she had recognized from before. It seemed two new ponies had gone after her. That clueless pegasus who had irritated her about Klopp's feelings from earlier and the pumpkin-colored unicorn. Now that she thought of it, his colors were rather... pumpkinlike. Actually, between that and his creamy mane... like Pumpkin Pie. She would now address him as "Pumpkin Pie" within her mind. So Clueless and Pumpkin Pie had appeared, and she was pretty sure they were insane/inept/ridiculous just like the others in the group somehow if they had decided to come along.

 

@,

 

She didn't really have time to consider what Clueless was saying, as her attention was thrust back to the light brown pony who had begun to respond to her. He... didn't recognize her. The arrow of seriosity suddenly pierced her heart again, and she was glad. She wanted to focus on him and figure out whether or not he was that man.

 

"Heh heh... yeah. I hope I don't get knocked in either. Anyway! I'm not... a pony. And I think you aren't one either, right? It's me... me... I... I can't remember my name. But I call myself Artsy Dreamscapes here. Remember? Don't you know me? We talked all the time. You... you uh... there might be some... being relatedness..." Her face fell a little as she felt stupider and stupider the more she spoke, once again becoming as red as the flower in her mane.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Doggess Arylett

[Flow 1,653]

Starry continued to fly around the lake searching for this particular pony, "Gosh, why does it have to be me to search for him?" She thought about it as she flew around "Hmm, is it because I have good eyesight? Now that I think of it, I guess I do because I look up at the sky a lot, wait, doesn't Daylight have good eyesight too? I mean he's a unicorn, an-.....Oh wait, pegasai must have the best eyesight because they fly!, I see, because of that, I can see really well, that's pretty decent to learn.....Woah woah, wait a minute!" She stopped and hovered to think about it more.

 

"Is this really why Daylight asked me to go search for....how should I refer to him.....Rolling pony? Hmm.."

 

Then she remembered what he actually said.

 

"Starry! Do you think you could get that other pony out of the lake? He looked rather big though so I don't know if you'll be able to manage on your own though..."

 

"Great, I should be using my common sense more, It's obviously because I can fly! Sigh.... oh well, I'd hate to worry him even more by going back with nothing,"

 

@,

 

Then she sees him out of the water and on land already, talking to Artsy "Ehhh!?! He can swim?!? I've went out here for nothing! Thanks a lot Daylight..."

 

Afterwards, Starry went back to the group, but thanks to having absolutely no knowledge on landing safely, she crash lands on the ground "Ouuuch..........I'm okay,"

Edited September 4, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Electrobolt 2,069]

@@Aureity, @

 

Once Electrobolt heard Aurora's name, he smiled a little more. *Aurora, that name does sound nice...* he thought to himself, finally glad that they both properly introduced each other. As he looked over to Silver, he noticed that he was rather silent. *Awakening after a thousand years of sleep, and then being thrusted into an entirely different world... He must be so confused now...* Although he felt sorry for Silver, he didn't get to think much on it as Aurora spoke up again.

 

"Thanks, Electrobolt," Aurora said happily, pleased that at least the green pony had decided to speak up. The silence of the silver pony was starting to unnerve her - and the bow slung over the pony's back did nothing to ease her worries. "I've only been here myself a few years though, but they're really nice to newcomers, so I don't think any of you will have much trouble fitting in. They're really easy to talk to," she added assuringly, remembering his social awkwardness.

As he looked back to Aurora, Electrobolt thought, *So this village IS a friendly place... Heh... I think I could like it here... Well, until I can figure out who I am, that is...* He began to get lost in thought, as he remembered the flashbacks he had seen in his mind, these characters fighting each other on this screen, the devices, and the name. *What does all of this mean...? Why did I see all of that before...?* he pondered, before returning to reality as he glanced around at the village again. He did admire the charm of this place, and knowing that it's rather friendly only made him believe it would be a nice place to stay.

 

Realizing that she hadn't said anything yet and that all three ponies were looking expectantly at her, she announced, "Course you all can stay! It'll be great having guests over." "Umm..." she added. "Do you want to go right now? Or do you want to explore the town for a bit? I, uh, can guide you three around, if you want."

Once Aurora spoke these words, he returned his attention to the white unicorn. *So she really doesn't mind?* he mused in his head, before mentally laughing. *Of course... After all, she DID just offer to take us in earlier...* Before he could say anything, he had heard the voice of a pony from earlier as she began to speak up...

 

@@Ice Storm,

 

"Oh! I would love that! I'd love to see how different it is from the old perspective we had where we came from," she said as she remembered about the library. "Oh! the library! Does Ponyville still have a Library? it might have some of the answers we're looking for. As unlikely as it may be, any information is better than none!" she announced in superbly excited after Alex stated that he too would love to explore the town.

As he heard this voice speak up, Electrobolt looked behind him and saw the light-blue pegasus from earlier. *She seems to be doing much better now,* he thought, before he realized that the unicorn said some things that caught his curiosity. *Ponyville? Is this what this village is called...? And... Just how does she know much about this place?* Shaking his head, he turned back around as he nodded at Aurora's offer, agreeing with Alex. "Yeah, I'd love to have a tour of this place. It really does look peaceful!"

[Marcato 2,144]

Silver came to a stop near the white unicorn who had run off earlier. He watched as Alex came clumsily to the ground and then addressed the unicorn in a clearly unsure manner. Silver couldn't help but smile a little at how the two ponies he had managed to befriend were acting around the unicorn. When the unicorn introduced herself, Silver figured it was only polite that he introduced himself as well, but his mind was having diffciulty focusing.

 

He was already planning out what he would do later, as well as thinking about how he would adjust to everything that changed. He didn't remember a settlement being here, let alone a village. How am I going to adapt to all of this? Silver thought fearing what else may have changed. It was clear that the way ponies talked had greatly changed, making it a little unusual to talk in the old tongue like he was.

 

However he no longer felt he needed to address himself by "we" anymore considering it was a little confusing and nopony else seemed to do it. After his episode with the flashback he noticed that when he was much younger he didn't speak that way until he came to Equestria, so in a sense he was restoring his natural speech.

 

When the unicorn offered them a place to stay, Silver was very grateful. In fact he was shocked she was so eager to let these ponies that had shown reason to be considered dangerous into her home so easily. When the ironically tempermental ice blue pony arrived, Silver was once again shocked by her kindness and upbeat personality. It was a very interesting contrast to the hot-headed personality he had seen earlier. He was also suprised by her knowledge. She seemed to know everything about this place even though she had just arrived. Silver made a mental note to talk to her about it and learn about this world.

 

Turning his attention back to Aurora, Silver decided he had better introduce himself and thank her for her help. "Sorry, I was a little lost within thought for a moment. My name is Silver, pleased to meet thee." He said introducing himself to her. "As for the offer, I greatly appreciate it. A place to stay wouldst be wondrous considering the current circumstances." He said accepting the gracious offer.

[Dave247 568]

"Sigh....Okay....Um....I'll try then." she said with reluctance

Day watched as Starry flew up above the lake and circled it looking for a sign for the pony that got knocked in. "Hopefully she won't have to do anything though." He though. "I doubt she would be able to lift him out of the water..."

He then saw the pony emerge from underneath the water, and then surprisingly swim to shore upon his own power. "Well, he may not be able to walk, but he can swim very well." He thought.

 

Day then looked back to Starry who, with no purpose to be airborne anymore, tired to land but still ended up crashing. "I should go talk to her..." He thought as he walked over to her. "It was my fault because I asked her to help after all".

 

"Ouuuch..........I'm okay,"

@

"Your landings are getting better" He said to Starry. This was a lie but he thought it would hopefully make her feel better. "Sorry about making you do all that but it was just a precaution. How was I supposed to know he could swim that well?" He now had a uncomfortable look on his face due to feeling bad about wasting Starry's time like that.

 

Day then turned his attention back to the pony that just emerged from the lake. He was talking to Artsy and he noticed that the two were acting strangely.

"It's as if they know each other..." He pondered. "But as most of the memories have been wiped they can't remember." He then focused closely on how the two were acting. "Well it looks like it isn't anything to do with a past romance otherwise Artsy would look a lot more uncomfortable. I think I'd be right to assume at this point that it's either a friend or relative. I'll have to keep watching to be able to confirm which one though."

[Flow 1,653]

"Your landings are getting better" He said to Starry. This was a lie but he thought it would hopefully make her feel better. "Sorry about making you do all that but it was just a precaution. How was I supposed to know he could swim that well?" He now had a uncomfortable look on his face due to feeling bad about wasting Starry's time like that.

 

"Um...It's no big deal.....I understand, even I didn't know he could swim, but really, if he did struggle in the water and there's no pegasai available, then I would've risked my life to save him." She cleared her throat and continued, "Ahem...Now that I think of it, I actually like being a pegasus now, I didn't like it at first, but I realized how fun it can be....these wings.....they look.....cool, oh yeah, I want to ask you a question........What do I look like? I mean, I've never seen my pony face before, so....um.....can you describe it?" She asked, but thought that it might be hard to describe her looks, so she instead told him "N-Nevermind, I'll just take a look at the lake, um.....I'll be there if you need me."

 

She then proceeded to the lake, where she plans to take a look at the reflection to see what she looks like, "Okay, it's time to finally see my pony face, err...well, I hope I don't look too bad or something,"

 

Once she arrived there, she closed her eyes once she got close to the shore, "Okay, this is it....um...I'm a bit nervous, but...here goes.....t-three.....two.......o-o-one...." Starry opens her eyes to see that she has blue face, a short purple mane with white streaks across and purple irises, she was surprised by her appearance, ".......I-I-Is this...really me?....Did I really look like this as....a human?.....N-no way...." then she turned around to check the side of her body, she saw that she has a blue coat, with matching wings, and her tail matched her mane, "....I...l-l-look like this?...as expected of a world of...candy colored ponies," After a while, she bursted out laughing "I look ridiculous! Eheheheheh!"

Edited September 4, 2012 by Narutardedscum!!

[Somebody 570]

Klopp lay there on his back, Magenta still in his arms on top of him. Her safety still top priority, he quickly spoke in the least sputtery way he could manage to her.

 

"A-a-are y-y-you o-okay M-M-M-M-Magenta?

 

Magenta shivered. It may have been warm on dry land, but that didn't mean the pond was as warm as a heated swimming pool. She was cold, trying to keep herself warm by tightly holding on to Klopp's belly. She had to admit to herself that she was rather enjoying this turn of events--at least she would have been, had they not both been completely soaked...

 

"...Klopp?" Magenta eventually asked, looking into Klopp's eyes, those big, beautiful cerulean eyes of his. "Y-you're hurt!" She suddenly realized she was wrapped in Klopp's wings, which had already been injured earlier. "I remember falling, and... oh dear God, you were that cushiony thing I fell on!" Ignoring how cold she was, Magenta hopped off of her rescuer and began to check him over for injuries--for the second time that day. "You really know how to make an impression on somebody, you know that?" Magenta was forgetting her ponyspeech, but she didn't care at this point.

 

She examined Klopp's wings to see if they had been further damaged. Luckily, it didn't appear as though they were. Apparently, being wrapped around Magenta was enough to save them. She was glad; she knew he was going to be needing them again, especially at this rate. In her peripheral vision, she caught another glimpse of those Scandinavian-style eyes. Finding herself strangely unable to tear herself away, she walked around so that her face was looking directly down at Klopp's.

 

Such a goofy little guy, still lying on his back, hooves in the air like somepony who had just been caught red-handed with a stolen diamond. Nevertheless, Magenta found something oddly irresistible about him. She smiled and lowered her head to plant a gentle kiss on those pony lips of his. Why not?, she thought to herself...

[Klopp 2,051]

@,

 

He continued laying there on his backside, feeling a bit of pain in his spine, but he was glad to see Magenta unharmed, and making sure that he was okay. He curled his hooves up above his chest and watched Magenta as she jumped up and did a thorough examination to make sure Klopp was not seriously injured. He was mostly just glad Magenta was now out of the water, cause the last thing he wanted was for her to drown!

 

Klopp was completely motionless, just having his eye's follow Magenta around as she move around him. Eventually she walked alongside and stared directly down at Klopp's face, and he just gazed into her glorious purple eyes. She was still wearing his Fedora, somehow it managed to stay upon her head throughout the ordeal, and she looked as cute as ever with it resting upon her glorious mane. She began to lean down, with her lips puckered up, and he knew what was coming. "Wait, is she gonna kiss me? Oh my gosh, she's gonna kiss me! Would feel bad about myself if I didn't return the favor..."

 

When her lips came into contact with his, he couldn't control himself and he reached his arm around her neck, pulling her down closer, and rolling her over onto her side next to him, giving her a proper kiss filled with enough passion to keep three romances going for the next century.

 

This was the first time Klopp had ever kissed anyone... last thing he expected that his first kiss would be with a pony. It seemed odd, strange, a great experience that was completely new to him in every way possible... it was the most weird thing he had ever felt in his life, and he was loving it.

[Nico 790]

"Heh heh... yeah. I hope I don't get knocked in either. Anyway! I'm not... a pony. And I think you aren't one either, right? It's me... me... I... I can't remember my name. But I call myself Artsy Dreamscapes here. Remember? Don't you know me? We talked all the time. You... you uh... there might be some... being relatedness..." Her face fell a little as she felt stupider and stupider the more she spoke, once again becoming as red as the flower in her mane.

 

Nicolas noticed this pony, Artsy, seemed to be shying away as she spoke to him. This only further stirred up thoughts in his head that he surely knew her. And she seemed to think that she knew him, that's for sure. Maybe some relatedness, she said, too. It's strange to think that he might have a hard time recognizing someone he was related to. His thoughts were fuzzy, but he was sure he knew her. Absolutely sure of it. But how did he know her, and where did they meet before...?

 

"That's it!" Nicolas exclaimed suddenly in response to his own thoughts. "I've never met you before, have I?" He looked straight at Artsy's flushed face, tilting his head. "We know each other, and we've spoken before, but we've never met. Obviously, you're-" He stood there with his mouth agape, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to think of her name. After a moment, he felt sharp pain in his head just as he did when trying to remember his own name.

 

"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to recall your name, either. But I'm certain I know you! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're my sister! Somehow, Artsy seems to fit you quite well, though I can't for the life of me figure out why!" Nicolas began to get excited a bit at meeting her for the first time, should it actually be who he thought it was. But his thoughts quickly crashed and burned in his mind as he came to the realization that he was meeting her, and they were ponies.

 

"You know, I hate to throw this off course, really. But you see, you're right. I'm not a pony. Yet, at the same time, I am. Do you perhaps have any kind of insight as to why that is? I would be very happy if you did, because I'm very confused about this, and a bit panicked, too! This isn't natural, and I'm getting the vibe that none of you here were naturally like this anymore than I was, especially you, seeing as how you said so and such." Nicolas awaited her reply, flopping his wet mane from one side of his head over to the other repeatedly in attempts to readjust it, becoming rather distracted from what he was saying to begin with.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

@, @,

 

There was a whole bunch of stuff going on in the background, which mostly didn't capture Artsy's attention. This pony had just confirmed it! It WAS him. He was her brother! She stared at her gape-mouthed in shock for a moment, the moment not quite washing over her. It was too farfetched to believe... their meeting in the flesh... as ponies? What? They hadn't planned this.

 

She suddenly felt another wave of self-consciousness, direly wishing her hooves could be replaced with hands. What was he thinking? Did he think she was an odd-looking pony? Was she ugly? What if he thought she looked silly or ridiculous? She couldn't look like that! This pony did resemble him a lot, and he did look quite silly, but... she didn't want to look silly. What if he wasn't laughing at her but was on the inside and was just keeping it quiet to be nice? No no no no! Why did this have to happen now?

 

"Yes... and you're my brother... I know you are," she hesitated awkwardly and paused for an inordinate amount of time, before continuing. "So a common theme... seems to be... uh... names! Names being forgotten! I presume you can't remember your own name either... uh... so you need a name! Yeah. Can you make one up? My uh... boyfriend gave me one. In case you can't remember him," the mare motioned to the blue unicorn nearby with a hoof. "I could... give you one too?"

 

The urge to sink into the ground into an invisible puddle was seizing her. And so was that ever-annoying reminder that she had no clothes on! Was it inappropriate for a sibling to see this? What if everyone was staring at them right now? So nude! Ah... ah... she needed to stop thinking. She had kept him long enough without response and her face had only turned red enough now for tomatoes to envy. His constant mane flipflopping only distracted her further, and she found herself sputtering before she forced her mouth to do her bidding. Talk PROPERLY!

 

"I don't know how we got here," Artsy said a little less awkwardly, adapting a more solid and calm tone. She had managed to force herself into acting like a normal person this time. Hopefully, that'd keep up. "I just... there was a crack, you see. It was all glowy and smishschmapply. And then like, I went into it. And uh... my boyfriend followed. And here the two of us are. We were having one of those visits we always have. It seems the crack is also another common theme. I think you saw one too?"

 

---

 

In the quaint village of Ponyville... though everything was as it had appeared... there was a spot where things were not quite right.

 

Several ponies congregated in a secluded dilapidated hut in the corner of town, which had the effect of being so creepy and abandoned that nopony usually went anyone near it. At least... the very few left that had not joined their cause.

 

At a small podium of rickety old shack, a light green unicorn with starkingly yellow eyes stood addressed the congregation... for a moment, it could've been sworn that those eyes of hers became a sickly green themselves.

 

"Hello, every... "pony"... I am Lyra, head of the division in the Everfree Forest and Ponyville area, as you may know... now I have called us here to meet because it seems there are several... new ponies that we may have missed. Bonbon, what is the census for our numbers?"

 

A cream-colored pony with a navy and pinkish mane rustled a few papers within her hooves, a rather taut expression upon her face. "We have... roughly 99& of Ponyville in our grasp... only 1% remain unconquered. I have examined and put everypony in the census. Except for these... newcomers,"

 

The congregation muttered a bit anxiously, with one earth pony raising her hoof.

 

"Yes, Carrot Top?"

 

"I... well... I came to one of these ponies earlier to try to get her to our cause. And I've been watching them carefully... and feeding a little. These don't seem like your ordinary run-of-the-mill ponies. They speak of having been human, and wanting to be human," This pony seemed rather hesitant and anxious, and rightfully so as the entire group suddenly erupted into raucous furious voices. Questioning, doubting, confused... scared?

 

"All right, that's enough! Order, order!" Lyra shouted above the ground, as they quieted down. "What is it, Sparkler?"

 

A purple unicorn had this time raised her hoof, grinning rather... hungrily.

 

"Does it really matter where they're from? They have not been convinced to our cause yet... more food."

 

"Now, wait a sec! We can't just be concerned with eating. The Queen... has been trying to break the barrier for ages. If humans actually got here... it means... that maybe..."

 

Lyra's eyes suddenly light up with excitement, and the entire congregation was eerily silent minus some odd muffled sounds of clicking and buzzing.

 

"One step closer to being human? Yes... Carrot Top. Since you are the one who has been following their group, I suggest you go and try to... get a little more information out of them. Make sure they're actual humans. Then... we can decide the next plan of action. Report to us when you're done. Everyone else... keep your eyes peeled for any others who have not yet joined our cause. And keep your eye on them. Make sure they don't go near Sweet Apple Acres. Meeting adjourned!"

 

As the ponies scattered back to their homes, Carrot Top gulped a bit nervously at her mission. It had been hard enough trying to get into that tan pony's mind. She seemed... resistant to her efforts. Who was to say these others wouldn't prove more trouble than they had anticipated?

[Dave247 568]

Starry began to say something, but he he only heard bits of what she said as he was concentrating on watching Artsy and the pony she was talking to because he was determined to figure out if his earlier suspicions were correct.

"Ahem...Now that I think of it, I actually like being a pegasus now, I didn't like it at first, but I realized how fun it can be....these wings.....they look.....cool, oh yeah, I want to ask you a question........What do I look like? I mean, I've never seen my pony face before, so....um.....can you describe it?"

When he heard this it broke his chain of thought for a moment. "What?" he thought. "What does her face look like?" He then realized he hadn't really payed much attention to anyone's faces since arriving here.

"N-Nevermind, I'll just take a look at the lake, um.....I'll be there if you need me."

"Good, now I can get back to concentrating on these two" he thought, as he turned his attention back to Artsy and the other pony. A thought then snuck into his head, wondering what his own face looked like, but he pushed it back out for now.

 

"That's it!" Nicolas exclaimed suddenly in response to his own thoughts. "I've never met you before, have I?"

"Well that very much suggests a relative." Day thought. "It's not possible for them to be friends when they've never met. I don't think I'll be able to deduce the relation though on my own. I'll just have to keep listening..."

"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to recall your name, either. But I'm certain I know you! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're my sister!

"And that confirms it." He thought rather smugly. He continued to watch them both for a little while longer but was quickly losing interest as he had discovered what he had wanted to know. He did notice that Artsy was looking more and more uncomfortable though as they talked. "That could mean two possible things." he thought. "Either the fact that she cannot remember anything is making her feel like that or, there's something specifically that she can remember about him that is unpleasant. Judging from everything that has happened so far though, the first is the most plausible." Satisfied that there was nothing else that interested him with those two, he turned his thoughts elsewhere.

 

 

Day then remembered what Starry had said to him, and the thought about his own face popped into his mind. He saw Starry over by the lake examining herself and decided to join her. He made sure to try and keep an ear out to the discussion that Artsy and her brother were having for his name, but he didn't focus on that too much as he didn't consider it important.

 

Ah he got closer to her, he noticed that she was laughing. "We can't look that ridiculous can we?" He thought, now extremely curious to see what his own face looked like. He walked over next to her and peered into the lake at his own face. It was rather square-like and looking around the group, noticed that the other males where too. turning to look at Starr's face, he noticed that it was different, more rounded, which was true for the the females too. He looked back into the lake to ponder this."It must be a gender related thing" He thought. He then noticed his eyes. The closest colour he could think of was light green. "Their so... big though!" He thought, comparing them to human eyes.

 

He could hear Starry still laughing and the more he staired at his face, and especially his eyes, he couldn't help starting to laugh himself. "It's true!" He said without realizing it. "We do look ridiculous!" The realization of this only made him laugh harder until, he lost his balance and his footing to trip over the edge of the lake and fall in it.

Luckily, it was shallow near the edge so he was able to just to climb out but he was dripping wet now. He was rather annoyed at himself for being so clumsy, but when he saw the look on Starry's face he couldn't help falling over and bursting out into laughter again. "I must have looked so silly!" he thought amongst all the laughter.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Dave247

[Aureity 3,055]

Aurora looked past the three ponies in front of her as she saw a few more scurry along the path towards the group. At the very least I know their names, she thought to herself, quite pleased at her menial accomplishment. "Hallo, Ice Storm, " she called to the familiar blue unicorn. "And, um..." Oh, come on, she grumbled as her brain whirred blankly at the sight of the gray earth pony, a name not popping into her mind. "Hi, to, um, you too," she added rather lamely, mentally kicking herself.

 

She glanced past the two newcomers to the red unicorn jogging along slowly behind them. Aurora's eyes widened in shock as she came into view. N-no way. I-I saw her get blasted into dust! And yet here she was, glaring coolly at the group. Aurora's concentration now completely lost, she glanced at the ponies assembled in front of her, feeling confused, before something snapped into place. "Oh, um, right. The tour! Ahaha, sorry...I'm really absentminded," she added hastily, blushing slightly, her angrily lashing tail the only telltale giveaway to her emotion. "Um...shall we get going now?" she asked brightly, turning and bounding away without waiting for an answer.

 

~~~

 

"And here we have the Golden Oaks Library," Aurora announced to the ground, as she stood underneath the shade of a grand oak tree that housed Ponyville's vast collection of books. "Um...I'm checked out a few books over the past year or so...mostly on constellations and things. You have so much free time in this town that, well, reading is a fun activity...you guys do read where you come from, right...?" She looked hesitantly at the group assembled in front of her. Do moon-ponies read? W-what else can they do? Ah...wh-what if they read minds? Stop thinking about them! She scuffed a small pile of dirt with her hoof, distracted.

 

"Anyway," she continued, "there's supposed to be a lot of history behind this library. But, um, I don't want to bore you moon-ponies, so...do y'wanna stay here a bit or move on?"

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As Electrobolt was listening to Aurora greeting the ponies that had arrived, he heard the name Ice Storm. Seeing as she was looking at the light-blue unicorn, he assumed that was her name. When she began to address another pony, yet unable to think of said pony's name, he turned around and saw two more ponies coming up: the gray earth pony from earlier, and that red unicorn. Once his eyes saw the red unicorn, his heart skipped a beat as he recalled his earlier moment with her. *Oh gosh... What is she doing here now??? Hopefully... She didn't pay much attention to me and didn't catch my rant earlier... Just... Stay calm...*

 

Turning around, he saw Aurora as her tail was frantically swishing all over the place. Even though she tried to give an excuse, he had reason to believe she was nervous, assuming it was the red unicorn making her feel that way. Deciding to just give her the benefit of the doubt, Electrobolt nodded as he responded, "Yes, lead the way, please." Once Aurora began to guide them, he thought about the red unicorn. *I should be careful around her... Just in case...*

 

----------------------------

 

As they arrived at the Golden Oaks Library, as Aurora had called it, he looked at the structure. To his surprise, it was a tree with a library inside of it! *Whoa, I never heard of a library inside of a tree before... Pretty cool!* he thought, as he just looked at it. Once he heard Aurora ask if they did read where they came from, he nodded. *Of course we read where we came from... But...* Just then, his mind blanked out as he kept his gaze at the tree library.

 

*****************

 

As he recalled what seemed to be yet another memory set in black and white, he saw a young boy leaving from a library. He seemed to be carrying a few books as he was walking down the sidewalk with his parents. While the three of them were walking, something caught the boy's eyes. As his gaze returned to his parents, he tugged on one of their arms as he seemed to be saying something, but the words were tuned out. As the father seemed to be chuckling, he pulled out a wallet and a piece of rectangular paper before giving it to the boy. As the boy smiled, he handed the books to the adults before hurrying to the door, opening it quickly before hurrying in. Eventually, the scene remained outside of the building as the boy played inside, the image shifting to a sign that, while most of it was blurred out, one word remained clear: Arcade.

 

*****************

 

As his mind returned to reality, he looked around the group, wondering if they had seen him spacing out earlier. *Was that... Another memory...? And... That place... The arcade, was it...? I wonder if they have one here...* As his attention was fully brought back into this world, he had heard the last bit of Aurora's line of speech, wondering if they wanted to stay around the library for a bit or if they wanted to move on. As he thought more and more on the memory of the arcade, he began to wonder if there is one in Ponyville, he was about to ask if there was one here. But something in the back of his mind had stopped him from asking. Whether it was because he was unsure if there wasn't one here and he would seem foolish for asking, or if he was just nervous, he just discarded the question as he responded, "Um, I'd like to move on for now... If it's alright with the rest of us, that is..."